Australia's national confidence is operating at two speeds. Pride in our sporting achievements is as strong as it has ever been - while sentiment and pride in our economy is running a distant second.
Australia is a proud sporting nation and, as always, the Olympics brought our patriotism and competitive nature to the fore.
Even for those among us who usually show little interest in sport, the news of skill and triumph can bring on a sense of pride in our national achievements. I, for one, was shouting from the rooftops when our athletes made it to the podium.
Despite our small population, Australians have always punched above their weight in the sporting arena, if you will pardon the sporting cliché. Our Olympic success on a per capita basis is world class.
While the London Olympics had its fair share of disappointments, Australians showed that we are still able to celebrate in our athletes' skill and determination. When we do come out on top we are always happy to share our success with our overseas friends and sporting competitors, while our athletes have proved to be gracious in defeat.
Our fierce competitiveness and pride in sporting achievement is well known. We play hard but fair and often enjoy some light-hearted ribbing of our rivals - especially the Kiwis and Poms.
This deep-seated pride leads me to wonder why we do not have a stronger sense of national self-esteem when it comes to other positive aspects of our country, in particular the economy. The contrast is stark.
We know Australia's economic fundamentals are strong - even Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey acknowledged this when speaking to an international audience recently. We hear, for example, that our unemployment rate is the envy of the world, how other advanced economies could only dream of achieving our growth rates, and how our living standards consistently rank among the top five in the world.
Why then do some in our community continue to talk down our economy? Why aren't all Australians more proud to share our experiences with the rest of the world?
It is true that we experienced setbacks during the GFC and circumstances in Europe continue to raise concerns, but overall our economy is thriving. The Government will be returning the Budget to surplus this financial year, while major reforms in tax, superannuation and financial services, and significant investments in infrastructure, will prepare the country for steady growth into the future.
While we can never afford to be complacent, this is a time for all Australians to be proud of what we have achieved and to look forward to a bright, prosperous future. We should be confident in our ability to meet future challenges and proud of the reforms we are undertaking, particularly the introduction of a carbon price.
The tendency for some in the community to promote a lack of confidence and refuse to acknowledge our strong economic fundamentals also influences the way we engage with other countries and can adversely affect their perceptions of us.
Treasurer Wayne Swan was right to criticise Queensland Premier Campbell Newman recently for saying Queensland was "on the way to being bankrupted". While the Queensland economy has its challenges, comparing it to Spain was a reckless and baseless shock tactic used to dodge responsibility for positive reform, while justifying public service cuts the Premier promised would not happen.
In these troubled times for the global economy, increasingly, international investors are seeing Australia as a safe haven. The last thing we want to be doing now is encouraging them to look twice at Queensland or Australia as good investment locations. On the contrary, we should be supporting confidence and consumer sentiment, and talking up the opportunities we have to offer.
When the Prime Minister addressed the G20 in Mexico recently and spoke about Australia's economic strength and how other countries could learn from that, there was uproar from the Opposition. This criticism of the Prime Minister for supposedly lecturing world leaders suggested Australia does not have a good story to tell when in fact, international institutions from the IMF to the World Bank have been universally singing our praises.
Australia did not become a member of the G20 by accident. We deserve to have a seat at the table and should be proud of the fact that we have ideas, experiences and success stories to share. To say otherwise does not respect the hard work that all Australians have put into making this country great.
Indeed, just as many of our top sporting coaches are now training overseas athletes, outstanding Australians from all fields are in demand around the world.
As a nation, it is time that we recognised this and showed more pride in our performance in world economic league tables, and not just on the sporting field. Maybe only then will we overcome our two-speed national confidence.
20 August 2012